BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 49,620 Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S decreased its position in Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 235,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,620 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $18,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,980,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,212,080,000 after purchasing an additional 497,108 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,719,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,273 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,625,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,509,369,000 after purchasing an additional 330,766 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,675,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,885,000 after purchasing an additional 692,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Monster Beverage in the 4th quarter worth about $691,104,000. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MNST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,152,959.62. This represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total transaction of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last quarter. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ MNST opened at $89.55 on Friday. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.09 and a 52 week high of $90.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.60.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.